won't start

putting together a 1982 camaro, 5.0 replaced cam, lifters,timing chain and cam gear, put on a high rise manifold, lined up timing marks, cam 6 0'clock, crank 12 0'clock timing does't seem right. no. 1 to tdc on compression stroke, distributer lined up with no. 1 cyl. turns over but will not start. adjusted valves per book, exhaust 1-3-4-8, intake 1-2-5-7, turned harmonic balancer around so timing mark is on tdc for no. 6 and adjusted exhaust 2-5-6-7, intake 3-4-6-8, even at these adjustments I have 5 or 6 very loose valves so i tighten valve adjusters approx. 7 or 8 threads down and it sounds a lot better but still does not start can you help me. (i do have spark)THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

You got all the wires hooked up right and fuel is ok??

well first make absolutely sure you are not 180 degrees out, its easy to do, ive done it many times myself. also, how are you tightening the rocker arms????? you should have done this while the intake was off. you tighten them till the pushrod stops easily turning between your fingers, then go another half turn. if you do it that way, they should not be loose, if they are, something is very wrong. also, did you soak the lifters in oil for 24 hours before installing them????? sometimes with hydrolic lifters they need oil in them before startup, or they are loose and you can actually bend a pushrod by installing them that way, cuz once oil pumps up into them there will not be enough slack and it will force the pusrod up and bend it. also do like dober said and make sure you have fuel.

dont soak your lifters in oil if theyt are new this is a wide spread myth and may accually cause damage.

dont soak your lifters in oil if theyt are new this is a wide spread myth and may accually cause damage.

please explane. im not arguing im just really curiouse. cuz i have always herd you are saposed to and it is also recomended by cam companys if im not mistaken, not to mention it makes sence to soak them.

vetteman is right. soaking them in oil is not nessesary, by doing this you get no lifter pre-load while tightening your rockers down. then once the engine is running, the lifters collapse a little bit which gives you lifter tick. and is not good for a cam break in.

did you put the distributer in before or after you turned the crank to adjust your lifters? the way that your manual tells you to tighten your rockers requires you to turn the crank 180* and adjust half the lifters, then turn another 180* to adjust the rest of them. this leaving you 180* backwards for ignition timing. if you put the distributer in after the rocker adjustment and did not give the crank another full rotation, then your timing is off 180*

also, i dont like the book's way of adjusting lifters. tighten the nut until there is no play between the pushrod and the rocker, then tighten another 1/4 turn. once you get the engine running, go back and adjust them again with the engine running. this time, loosen the nut until you can hear a tick then tighten until the tick noise goes away, then tighten an additional 1/2 turn. i've done this for years, and never had a lifter fail, or had to re-adjust